Brent Key Says Georgia Tech Is "As Healthy As We've Been At This Point In Camp In Three Years"

Georgia Tech Football has a clean injury report after their first scrimmage of fall camp

Nov 29, 2024; Athens, Georgia, USA; Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets head coach Brent Key on the sideline against the Georgia Bulldogs in the third quarter at Sanford Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Brett Davis-Imagn Images | Brett Davis-Imagn Images

Injuries are, unfortunately, a part of football, and there are some injuries that have affected some programs at the start of fall camp. Georgia Tech is not one of them, though, as head coach Brent Key said the Yellow Jackets are completely healthy right now as they exit their first scrimmage of fall camp:

"We're healthy. We're as healthy as we've been at this point in camp in three years. And that is a massive, massive credit to really a lot of areas. I mean, AJ Artis and his crew and what they do during the summer. You know, the training room and how they've been able to put guys in position in the maintenance and rehab and what we do there, and then Pat Boyle and Jordan Diaz from the sports science aspect of it. I mean, we went hard last week, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and you know they yeah I want to go hard again on say, well, maybe you got to dial back a little bit. But we use all those things. You use your gut instincts, your experiences, but also the scientific data. We're not going to be driven by just one thing. We're going to put our heads together, and that's where the trust comes in with the staff. And I trust those guys tremendously. I mean, we were able to go right at 140 plays today. And obviously it was cool out there, relatively speaking, but we could have gone 40 -50 more without missing a beat. These guys are in really good shape. I need the sun. I need the heat."

That is exactly where you want to be if you are Georgia Tech. This team suffered through some injuries last season with Haynes King, Jamal Haynes, and Kyle Efford among the most notable players that had to miss time due to injuries.

Nov 9, 2024; Atlanta, Georgia, USA; Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets quarterback Haynes King (10) throws a pass against the Miami Hurricanes in the second quarter at Bobby Dodd Stadium at Hyundai Field. Mandatory Credit: Brett Davis-Imagn Images | Brett Davis-Imagn Images

Georgia Tech has an interesting blend of young talent and transfers on the defensive side of the ball, as well as a brand new defensive coordinator. How will all of those pieces mesh together? That is still to be determined, but during yesterday's scrimmage, it seemed like the young guys stood out:

"Will Kiker had an interception return for a touchdown. Just continuing his ascension on this football team, which really, I think everybody saw in the summer, his strength numbers, weightlifting and speed and explosion and all that. He's really showing that up, that's showing up when he gets his opportunities on the field too. We had Shymeik (Jones), had a blocked extra point. I'm not sure who, or what groups were in, who was in. Ahmari picked it up and ran it back for, you know, 98 yards for a two -point conversion. Then, you know, as far as the defensive lineman, some of the young guys really, really showed up today. And we wanted those guys to get a lot of plays and to see where they're at.

Christian Garrett showed up with multiple sacks out there. Christian's been playing end and three technique, playing both of those positions. I think he can be a force, you know, he's got, you know, for side the size and strength that he has and the athletic ability and the quick twitch. I mean, you talk about a matchup nightmare when you move him inside, you know, but he's, you know, it's like all of them. He's got a ways to go, but he's starting to flash and show the real signs of what we've thought he thought he was. You know, at the end by Jordan Boyd, who missed some springtime. He was a freshman last year, played a little bit, played a lot on teams, but he's really starting to show up out there. You know, played with power and quickness and juice off the edge.

Then two guys inside, I thought Blake Belin and Derry Norris showed up a lot inside. So, you know, really increasing that depth and not just the depth, not just to have a body there, but have depth that, you know, can play when it is their time, when they're right, and that's what we want. We want all freshmen to come with the mindset and attitude that they're they're coming into play as a freshman because if you don't have that mindset, you're never gonna play right. So you always have to be thinking that way.

Some of the other guys, I thought Elgin Sessions showed up today, as far as another young guy, Dalen Penson. I thought Tae Harris was around the ball a lot today. One thing we asked our team was to make sure they take care of each other, right? Make sure you go out and you gotta play physical, gotta play fast, but we wanna take care of each other too. At the end of the day, we're all teammates, and there are the QBs.

Now, they did. There were some times that it was piled up, and there were three, four guys on the tackle, and they could have dumped a guy or flown in, and they didn't. So that shows a sign of maturity on the team, that's a positive sign. A.J. Hoffler missed some springtime, but he showed up today. So I was really pleased with the defensive end spot, and that's what I'm really, and that's not saying anything negative on the other side of the ball, like I said, I think it was a pretty balanced scrimmage across the board."

The Yellow Jackets will resume fall camp on Monday.